Senator calls for smartphone app privacy policies

By eCampus News staff and wire reports

May 26th, 2011

A key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee is challenging Apple Inc. and Google Inc. to require all developers that make apps for their mobile devices to adopt formal privacy policies, the Associated Press reports. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., sent letters to the two companies Wednesday asking that all apps for the iPhone, iPad and devices running Google's Android software provide "clear and understandable privacy policies." Such policies would tell users what personal information the app collects and how that information is used and potentially shared. Right now, it's up to individual developers whether to spell that out…